A serial burgular was recently convicted of his crimes in a court in New Zealand and was sentenced by the judge to serve 20 months in a state prison.

The burgular instantly lodged an appeal against the sentence.

To the judges surprise, the defendant was demanding that his sentence should be increased by four months to a full two years.

The question that leaps to mind of course is why would the burgular do this?

A pang of conscience?

A man so wracked with guilt that he felt he deserved a greater punishment?

New Zealand has long enjoyed the dubious distinction of being a socially progressive society,

This is manifest in a number of strange ways, and penal institutions are no exception.

The State prisons in New Zealand are for those people sentenced to serve less than 24 months imprisonment.

Whereas those that are sentenced to 24 months or more are sent to Federal prisons.

State prisons have a strict no-smoking policy, whereas Federal prisons allow their long term 'guests' to enjoy a fag.

It turns out that the burgular was a life-long smoker and was so addicted to cigarettes that the prospect of facing 20 months without a fag was far worse than being incarcerated for an additional four months.

The judge, who claims not to be a sadist, declined the appeal.

yechydda,